New Orleans Saints second-line umbrellas are a cottage industry

Ted Jackson / The Times-PicayuneNelda Millon, (second from right in the back) and members of the ladies guild at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church work together to make Saints second-line umbrellas at the church Friday, January 29, 2010. Since the New Orleans Saints big win, Theresa Elloie has been bent over a table in her Central City workshop, creating black-and-gold masterpieces of sequins, flowers and ribbon.

In the St. Roch neighborhood, the ladies' guild of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church has also logged in long days, glue guns in hand, to transform nearly 100 black umbrellas into Who Dat showpieces, ready to be pumped in the air after any Saints touchdown.

As Super Bowl fever spread, some New Orleanians saluted their hometown team with skills learned from outfitting social aid and pleasure clubs and Mardi Gras Indians. Their handiwork has become a cottage industry.

Nelda Millon is the petite but powerful center of an extended family that includes brass-band musicians, second-liners and Mardi Gras Indians, most notably her late brother, Big Chief Jake Millon of the White Eagles, known for his dazzling needlework.

"Since our pastor is a die-hard Saints fan, we wanted to spruce it up a bit, " Millon said.

The original two dozen were snatched up quickly, even before Mass began, Millon said. And just before his homily, Ricard stood in his pulpit, played part of the de facto Saints fight song -- "Halftime (Stand Up and Get Crunk)" by the Ying Yang Twins -- and danced with one of the umbrellas in his pulpit while Millon danced with another one down the aisle.

"Then me and my big mouth, I told Father I was going to take orders, " Millon said. She left church with nearly 100 requests. But as president of the church's ladies' guild, she knew she "had plenty of backup, " she said last week, as she propped 96 blank umbrellas between church pews while women with scissors and rolls of ribbon bustled around her.

Emma Sampson, Rose Thomas and Carol Ali Jenkins made fancy bows for the tops and glued golden felt fleurs de lis. Joyce Romansky and Sybil Rattley attached more ribbon, while Lamera Berger, Charlene Peters, Sabra Pepin and Gwen Richardson sprinkled glitter and used a gold metallic pen to write alternating slogans, two per umbrella. Each slogan was punctuated with an exclamation point: Who Dat! I Believe! Geaux Saints! Bless You Boys!

Millon pitched in at each stage of the assembly line and also worked the phone, getting more glue, ribbon and glitter.

After the work was done, the group planned to sweep up the glitter and scraps of ribbon and scrub their beloved church, Millon said, making it pristine for Super Bowl Sunday.

Elloie, too, saw Saints mania spread into houses of worship. As the Saints piled up victories, she noticed church ushers changing their Sunday uniform from white and black to gold and black, she said.

So Elloie created a Saints church corsage especially for them, with a sequined fleur de lis next to three demure black silk flowers topped with a small white plastic Bible and two sets of praying hands.

She also made a more secular version that includes a football, helmet and goalposts atop gold and black ribbon. In the center are the words "We Kick, " followed by the rear end of a small plastic football player in a three-point stance.

Between the two versions, Elloie will likely make 100 Saints-specific corsages before this weekend, with the ribbon on each bordered with small golden flowers and other careful touches.

Elloie makes parade corsages for several social aid and pleasure clubs but is modest about her work and always happy to teach others. "Miss Theresa makes the most absolutely fabulous corsages I've ever seen, " said Michelle Longino, president of the New Orleans Bayou Steppers Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

Elloie, 52, grew up between two key second-line hubs. Her family lived downtown near from the Zulu club headquarters at Broad Street and Orleans Avenue, but her father owned the Sportsman's Corner at the corner of Second and Dryades streets. The bar is home to one of the divisions of the Young Men Olympian Club and most Uptown parades stop there.

Most of those parades feature elaborate corsages. She started making her own after she went to birthday parties and either couldn't identify the guests of honor or saw them with money aimlessly pinned all over their shirts. So she began experimenting with folded dollar bills, "to make them pretty, " she said.

The result is her best-seller, the "money corsage, " with a border and ribbons made of greenbacks, topped with little items from her "whatnot" drawer: tiny plastic champagne glasses and bottles, small framed pictures and other items tailored to the celebrant.

Streaming from the center of Elloie's own personal corsage is an RIP ribbon for her father, Louis Elloie, a passionate Saints fan who died in 2008.

The Sportsman's group of regulars used to launch the football season each year by declaring whether they were for the Saints or against. Then, on the Sunday after the Super Bowl, if the Saints had a losing season -- as they often did -- their fans had to crawl on their hands and knees through the bar and out onto Dryades Street while the others threw wads of paper and heaped ridicule on them. Afterward, everyone would barbecue and dance and have a big party.

Elloie's father always bet for the Saints and so usually led the line of those crawling. As the years went by and the crowd aged, her father would put down a padded rug, she said. But he continued to crawl -- and hope for a better season.

So for Elloie, each Saints corsage she makes is not only her humble tribute to the team that "gave such joy to everybody" but also an homage to her father, the "king of the Saints fans, " she said.

Katy Reckdahl can be reached at kreckdahl@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3396.